Two Doctors
by Aradia Rose
Summary: Can Max save the world again and deal with the newest member of Team Steel? Please read and review! DISCONTINUED (Sorry, but I lost my inspiration.)
1. The Call

* I'd like to start off by saying that, sadly, I do not own Max Steel or anything else from the show. I do own Dr. Harrington, so please don't steal her. Thank you and enjoy!  
  
On A Ship Near Cabo San Lucas, Mexico  
  
"Of course I understand, it's not a problem, really. Alright, I'll be ready. Goodbye." The young woman hung up on Jefferson Smith and moved toward the closet to grab her things. Wow, this must be one serious guy that he was telling me about if they need ME to be there so that he can take a break. She thought as she carried her bags to her bed and began to collect her clothes. Just as she put down her bags, he cabin mate, Laura Chen entered the room with a puzzled look upon her face. "Crystal, why are you packing, what do you think that you are going to do, swim to the nearest shore?" Both girls smiled and Crystal closed her first bag. "No, I've been called away. Work, you know how it is. I have to go to nowhere, California to give some poor computer nerd a vacation." Laura walked over to Crystal's bed, only a few feet from her own bed. She picked up a pair of light colored blue jeans from the pile of clothing and began to fold them. The two girls discussed many things during the eleven months of the research trip that had already passed, mostly Laura's ex-boyfriend Josh McGrath. Josh was actually the reason that the two girls became friends, and cabin mates. Crystal had seen Laura sitting alone looking at pictures of him; she was alone, and sad. Crystal felt that it was her responsibility, since Psychology had been her college minor, to see what was wrong and if this girl was going to be okay. She walked toward the seemingly sweet young girl and asked if she was going to be okay, that question started the five hour conversation about Josh, and why they had broken up. Laura admitted to being in love with him even after everything that had happened, and that she couldn't wait until the year was over and she could go home to him, she hoped that the year away would calm her anger and resentment toward him of his minor infidelity. She had also commented many times that she felt that he was hiding something, but she could never figure out what it was. This was about to make much more sense to Laura's newest friend. 


	2. Informed

Hey readers! I wanted to say a few things before this next chapter. First of all, thanks for reading. Next, sorry about the block writing style, I tried to space things, but when I upload, the spaces go away, and I'm new to this, so I don't know how to fix it. Also, I am planning on making this story not fit the actual show's storyline. I am sure that you will see what I mean in a few chapters, but I wanted to warn you now.  
In A Lab At N'Tek  
"I don't need any help, I like my job, and I don't want a vacation." Berto shouted to Max as he received the news of Dr. Crystal Harrington's assistance having been requested earlier that morning. "And if I did want help," He continued "I would ask, I can't believe that you all went behind my back, why do you guys hate me so much?" "Hey, wait a minute bro, that's not fair" Max said to stop Berto from his ranting and raving. "Nobody hates you, but you have already proven in the past two minutes that this was a good idea. You're starting to think of being here as a job rather than an adventure like you used to think. You're starting to lose your passion. Dad and I couldn't let that happen to you, don't you understand?" The expression on Berto's face began to calm but abruptly tensed again. "Wait, 'Dad and I', you had something to do with this? I hope you know that you suck hermano." "Whatever Berto, you need a vacation, and some help around here. Or you just need a woman, I don't know which, but we'll find out soon enough" Max chuckled as Berto tried hard to keep calm through that slam. "Dude, you have been way too serious lately. I mean like worse that Rachel, and you know how bad she can be." Max smirked at his last comment, he could be so witty sometimes that even he couldn't keep a straight face. Berto on the other hand, was not thrilled, to say the least. "Not true, everyone knows that she is the biggest bi." Berto's insult was cut short when the door to the lab opened and Pete Costas stood in the doorway. "Hey guys. I hear that Team Steel's newest recruit will be arriving any time now, are you excited?" Pete gestured toward Berto since in an earlier conversation with Max, he know that she was given a Tech. Doctorate almost five years earlier, and that she would be working mostly with Berto. "Excited?" Berto threw his arms up as he shouted. "I'm about to be replaced by some 500 year old high-tech wannabe, and you actually expect me to be excited. Are you out of your freakin' mind?" A puzzled look came over Pete's face, a look that Max had seen grace his friends' face many times before. "500, Berto, she is 23, and from what I have been told, she's smart, like you. Dude, she's a published scientist. A girl that can speak, and do other things, in English, German, and Spanish, can you imagine? Think of the possibilities of hooking up with a girl who can talk, and do other things, in three languages man." All three boys let their minds wander into the gutter for a moment before clearing their throats and continuing. "Man, a girl, your age, who can mentally give you a run for your money, why are you so pissy?" Pete couldn't understand why any guy would be upset by the thought of sharing his time and tight work space with a cute, smart woman like Crystal. 


	3. First Impressions

Jefferson Smith sat contently at his desk reading through a scientific article penned by his newest agent. Halfway through the article he paused for a moment to check the time, 3:36pm. "Ah" he thought, "Dr. Harrington should be arriving within the hour". He continued to read, both impressed by her intellect, and confused by some of the topics that she touched on in the three pages.   
Within a moment of finishing his reading, a fist hit his office door. "Come in" Smith shouted. A tall, slender figure slowly entered the room. "Hey, can I talk to you." "Berto, come in, have a seat. What's on your mind son?"  
Jefferson Smith asked, although he knew exactly what was coming. "Sir, why are you doing this to me? I like working…I prefer to work alone. Why can't I continue to do what has worked so well for me since I got here?" I don't think I need a break as bad as everyone else seems to. Berto stood before the large desk and plead his case, but to no avail. "I'm sorry Berto, my hands are tied. Her plane should be arriving any minute, I can't send her back now, and I wouldn't even if I could. I'm not asking you to be her best friend, but I want you to show her what you are working on, and let her take over, just for a few days. I want Josh to take you on a vacation. Besides that, I think that once you get over this anger, you'll like working with someone on your intellectual level." "Doubt it." Berto mumbled.   
Berto continued to argue until a soft tapping sound filled the room, coming from the partially open door. "Come in" Jefferson yelled from behind his desk as he stood to greet his visitor. Berto turned toward the door, and was stunned by the vision in front of him.  
A young woman, not more that 5'5, long brown hair and natural looking blond highlights came through the doorway. His eyes drifted downward toward a bright smile and full, gloss covered lips. He continued to let his eyes wander, and saw curves that made his heart race. 'I'm in trouble' he thought as he tried to focus on his anger rather than her. "Jefferson Smith I presume". She smiled and extended her hand. She quickly turned to Berto and extended her hand again. "Dr. Martinez, It's a pleasure to finally meet you, I have heard so many wonderful things about you." He reached out slowly and shook her hand. He couldn't help but feel terrible for the things that he had said about her. "Really, who told you about me, I was told that the two of you only spoke briefly?" Berto pointed at Jefferson Smith, who was now seated again, watching the two interacted. "Actually, I was called away from a research ship to be here, and as luck would have it, my cabin mate is a friend of yours, Laura Chen." "Laura? Really? Does Josh know yet?" Both men were shocked by the news, but excited to hear her name again. Laura had been gone for nearly a year now, and was deeply missed, mostly by Josh. "Um, not yet. I only spoke to him for a minute as he pointed me toward this office. He seemed to be in a hurry." "That's my boy, always rushing!" Jefferson chuckled from behind a folder containing information on Crystal. Berto wanted to say many things to the beautiful figure that stood before him. Rather than saying something smart or witty, he asked, "So, Dr. Harrington, I don't suppose that Max told you where he was off to?" She paused before responding, "Berto, you do know that if I hadn't already been informed of Josh's double life, you would have just killed the secret, right? And no, he didn't specify. He was walking toward the front entrance though." He began to pale as he realized that he had accidentally just broken the cardinal rule of N'Tek. Never talk about Josh while you are here…Josh isn't an agent, Max is. God, could I be more stupid? What is wrong with me today? Berto thought, frustrated with his slip. "Oops. I didn't even think about it." Crystal smiled and tried to make him feel a bit better. "Hey, don't worry about it, I mean, with me working here, with you and him, I would almost have to have been informed eventually. I'm sure that's why you slipped. Berto held back a smile. He wanted so badly to be upset, but she wasn't making it easy for him.   
Berto asked Crystal where she was staying and if she needed any help moving. He found out that she was going to stay at N'Tek for a while so that she could look for a house. He offered to help her get settled and she accepted. Wow, Laura was right, he is sweet. I think I'm gonna like it here. Berto began to show her around, not realizing that he may have been right to not want a vacation, he was safer at N'Tek.   
Hey, I know that everyone wants me to write longer chapters, but the first few are just coming out short. Sorry. I know that the later chapters will be longer, so please hang in there. Thanks everyone! 


	4. Her First Day At N'Tek

Crystal Harrington awoke at 5:30 the next morning and began to prepare for her first day as a secret agent. She walked down toward the computer room where she was told to meet Berto that morning. Rather than Berto, she found Max and Pete standing around, joking around and Pete threatening to push the feedback button and give Max a taste of N'Tek smelling salts. "Hi Max, oh, you must be Pete Costas…I'm Crystal Harrington." He smiled at her and took a step toward her, unfortunately for Pete, he tripped over his left foot, and fell to the ground. "Smooth move man" Max joked as Pete jumped to his feet.   
"Hey, what time does Berto usually show up around here, I have something to say and I want all three of you here?" Crystal asked, trying not to laugh at Pete's idiocy. "Uh" Max Began "any minute now." Just as they all started to wonder what was taking him so long, Berto walked through the door. "Nice of you to show bro." Said Max. "Great, you're all here. I wanted to tell you all something, but this is the first time that I have you all in one room. Now, I happen to be friends with a girl who seems to know all of you. Berto, you already know this part. Her name is Laura Chen." Max's bright blue eyes seemed to glow even brighter at the mention of her name. "Anyways, when I told her that I was coming to Del Oro, she told me that if I got to meet any of you I was to say 'hi' for her. Also, she misses you guys very, very much. Oh, and Max, she wants Josh to pick her up on the 24th of next month when the ship docks. I figured that, since you know him so well, you could arrange that, right?" A smile crossed Max's face so bright you would have thought that he had just won the lottery or something.   
"So, what's on the itinerary for today guys?" She smiled at them and hoped for a challenge for once. "Well" Berto started, "Today we are going start off with something that we try to do every day, check on our enemies. First, we check on Dread. Public enemy number 1 as far as this company is concerned." Crystal glanced at Pete, noticing that he wasn't at all surprised by any of this. She knew that he was aware of Max's secret by the fact that he was in the building, but she realized that he must have been told long ago because none of this was even fazing him anymore.   
"Ok. Um, I don't suppose anyone here knows where I can get a soda when we're done with Dread?" Berto did his best not to jump at the chance to get away from Pete and Max and spend time alone with his new partner. After a moment, he turned and replied, "Sure, I'll take you in a few minutes." "Thanks Berto. You know, considering how you were talking about me when I got here, you have been really sweet." He looked confused, not realizing that she had been able to hear him arguing with his boss about her. Crystal saw the puzzled look and decided to explain. "I kind of overheard you complaining to Jefferson yesterday. You left the door open behind you. Don't feel bed though, I'm used to working alone too. I know how you feel."  
"Hey, can I ask you a question?" Berto asked, not bothering to look away from the large monitor as he spoke. "Why is it that you called me Dr. Martinez at first, and then immediately changed to calling me by my first name?" "Oh, you know what? I didn't even realize that I did that. I am just so used to calling you all by your first names from talking to Laura. I'm sorry. I did surprise myself though; I do seem to be able to remember that he is Max when we're here. " He couldn't help but feel bad about making her feel that she had to apologize. "Don't worry about it, I just wondered why you did it. I would have told you to call me Berto eventually anyway."   
He smiled slightly as he started to work with the massive computer console against the back wall. They began by using their satellite systems to check for curious movement in and around N'Tek. Once Berto was satisfied that N'Tek was safe, he broadened the search to include all of Del Oro. They targeted Dread's base and saw nothing unusual. Max grinned to know that no obvious attacks were getting underway from the large base that Dread called home. Berto did a bit more work before taking Crystal to get a drink. When he stood to show her the way, Max and Pete decided to tag along, ruining any chance at one on one interaction between the two. He had been hoping to get the chance to discuss some of her published theories, but realized that it would just have to wait. The day went well after that, not much happened on the N'Tek side of things, but little did they know of the plans underway at the very base that they had just scanned. 


	5. Up To No Good Again

Okay readers. I know for a fact that this will be a short chapter. Sorry, but I had a difficult time writing this much.   
"Shut up you moron. This time I'll be handling the operation. Just me, no one will screw this up for me again." The man's voice echoed throughout the large base. "But sir, you need help, N'Tek is nearly impossible to get into, especially for you. They know you. John Dread frowned, knowing that his plan would need some fine-tuning before it could be put into effect. His technician had been right, everyone knows him, he may need help after all. "Well, this time I am not going after Steel, that is much to risky. Trust me, that is one mistake I don't need to make again. What I really need is to get someone into N'Tek to learn more about the man behind Max Steel. I want to know everything about Josh McGrath before I go after him again. And I know just how to handle that."   
Dread paced the control room anxiously, planning his attack. "Uh, sir. Might I suggest that we study each member of the team, and try to learn their strengths and weaknesses before deciding on an attack plan?" John Dread smiled, realizing that one person in the room besides him had a functioning brain. "Alright everyone, you heard him, let's get to work. I want to know the vital statistics, family, friends, etc. On every N'Tek employee you can find."   
He watched each person begin pulling up information on the N'Tek employees that they knew. One of the men left the room to coordinate undercover surveillance teams to watch traffic patterns outside of N'Tek.   
Josh Dread left the room and went into his private office. He sat down and opened up his laptop. He started up a program and began to type up some of his thoughts on what preparations needed to be made in order for his plan to be successful. John sat back in his large, leather chair and began to laugh. "I've finally got Jefferson Smith beat at his own game, now that I'm not focused on Steel as my main objective. Jefferson Smith won't be expecting this at all. Finally, a chance to take on all of N'Tek and actually have the upper hand." He began to laugh again as he thought of his options on whom to target in his plan.  
Only 10 minutes after he had sent his men off to work, one of his technical advisors entered the room with a thick blue folder in his hands. The man moved quietly toward Dread's desk, and handed him the folder, which was nearly overflowing. Dread began to skim through its contents. It contained fact sheets on more than 90% of N'Teks employees, Jefferson Smith included. He flipped through the sheets, and finally came across a page that interested him. "Ah, a vision of perfection no doubt. This is the agent that will bring me everything I could ever ask for." He carefully placed the folder in his top desk drawer and locked it. "Now all that is left is to find a way to catch her without Max Steel finding out. I just have to figure her out, see if she has any routines that involve leaving N'Tek. Simple. I've got you all now." He said as he stared at his desk.   
No one knew exactly what his plan was, just that he was being extra careful this time. 


	6. Training With Kat

"Hey Laura, how are you? I miss you so much." Crystal said into the phone in her temporary room at N'Tek. "I'm alright, what about you. How is that new job?" "I like it so far. Guess what, I met Josh, Pete, and Berto already. They all say "hi" and they miss you too. Oh, and Josh says he will be there to pick you up." "Cool, so what do you think of them, isn't Josh adorable?" Laura asked with a giggle in her voice. "Yeah, he's cute, not quite my type, but attractive none the less. So, how's the trip now that I'm gone?" Laura thought about her response for a moment, not wanting to sound insincere. "Uh, I'm okay, but it's not as fun as when you were around. Not too many people for me to talk to since I don't know to many people around here." The two carried on for nearly half an hour before Laura had to go. It was time for her to begin her research for the day. Crystal hung up her phone and went off to work, hoping for a chance to get some hands-on time with the main computer.   
"Hey guys," she said as she walked into one of the labs where she found Max, Berto, Pete and Kat. "Oh hi, you must be Kat, I'm Crystal." She held out her hand like she had done to everyone else. Kat looked at her funny and then said "Huh, I was expecting a female version of nerd-boy over here, I guess being a dork isn't required in order to be really smart. See, there's hope for you yet Berto!" Everyone in the room laughed except for Berto, and nobody could blame him for not being happy with her comment. "I am not a nerd, shut up Kat." Berto left the room for a few to begin his surveillance routine. He came back in to find Crystal organizing his things. "Well, nothing unusual on the radar to…" he stopped at the sight of her moving things that he needed. "What are you doing? Are you insane? Leave that stuff alone, it is sensitive equipment." Rolling her eyes, she continued to move things despite his demand. "I know what I'm doing, I have just as much training as you do, remember? Don't worry about it, I'll be careful."   
Max looked at Berto and smiled a bit. "Well, since there is nothing going on, lets go bro." "Go where?" "Vacation, remember, that's why we called her in. Now, let's get going." Berto sighed, knowing that he couldn't get out of this. He began to show Crystal how to get in contact with him and Max, and what everything in the computer room did. She rolled her eyes again, but let him babble just to get him gone. Max dragged Berto away after nearly an hour, and asked him what sounded fun to him. "Working," Berto said sharply. "Forget it Bro, it's not gonna happen. Surfing, Skating, basketball maybe?" Berto thought about it for a minute and finally said, "Uh, what about biking, that sound good to you?" I'm going to regret this; I just know it, Berto thought as he answered Max. Well, at least I know how to ride a bike, so I'm doing better than usual. "Great, biking it is, I know this great mountain trail not far from here, and I have an extra bike just waiting for your sorry butt! Hey Pete, you up for the challenge?" Josh waved for Pete to come along. "Can't, class in an hour, Sorry." Pete shrugged and said goodbye to everyone. Pete walked out of the lab, followed by Josh and Berto.   
Crystal walked into the room that housed Berto's massive computer. Kat followed her to see what she was up to now that the boys were gone. Crystal sat in front of the main screen and began to type. She decided to re-scan some of their enemy bases, seeing no drastic changes. Satisfied, she turned to Kat. "So, what do you say to a little training session?" Kat smiled brightly at the thought of kicking some ass. "Sure, hope you know what you're up against Crystal." The two girls left the room and went through some warm up exercises before getting serious. They began to battle, and Kat had Crystal on the mat in ten minutes. "Not bad for a first timer, bout you're no expert. I can help you with that if you're willing to work for it." Crystal nodded and told Kat, "hey, I'm an N'Tek agent now, of course I'm willing to work for it!"   
Kat continued to work with Crystal for most of the day, and the two began to strike up a friendship. This is so cool, I haven't even been here for a week, and everyone seems to like me. Yay! Crystal thought this many times throughout the day, and was right, everyone did like her so far, although Berto did still have his reservations as to her motives. He knew that she wasn't called in to replace him, but her intentions weren't necessarily so pure as just to help him. I wonder how the boys are doing on that biking trip. That was the other thought that raced through the minds of the two girls, knowing that Berto wasn't really into sports, and that Josh had a tendency to forget that the probes helped him whether he was in Max mode or not. They hoped the guys were alright, and that Berto would survive the day. 


	7. I miss my computer!

Hey everyone, I just wanted to apologize for how short this chapter is. I had a very hard time with this one.   
Meanwhile On A Remote Mountain Trail  
"Josh, wait a minute, slow down, I don't have nano-tech assistance, remember?" "Sorry bro, I just can't get enough of this fresh mountain air." Josh pedaled on, while Berto struggled to keep him in sight. "That makes two of us, hermano." Berto shouted, panting to catch his breath. As they approached the peak of the trail, Josh stopped to check on his not-so-in-shape friend. I guess I'm lucky, I could've suggested hiking, at least I have a bike to help me along. Berto smiled as he realized that it truly could be worse.   
  
"Hey Berto, what do you think of the new girl, cute huh?" "I don't know how we got on to that subject, but yeah, she's cute, nice too." A smile came over Josh's face, one that his friend knew all too well. "Oh no, you're not gonna try and set me up. I don't really like her, at least not like that. I mean, she's cute, nice, and smart…I guess I should, but I'm more intrigued than interested." Josh understood, that was kind of how he had always felt about his team supervisor, Rachel Leeds. He was always intrigued by her mystery and intellect, but never truly interested in her. "Alright, I won't play matchmaker, but fair warning, when Laura comes back, she probably will." Berto smiled and shook his head in agreement. He knew that she had always wanted him to be with someone.   
  
"So, what about you? Do you like her or something?" Berto asked, noting that Josh seemed to have taken some sort of interest in her. "Nah, I like the fact that she can tell Laura stuff for me. I really like that!" Berto shook his head.   
  
Berto turned his head, and looked ahead of him. He saw an amazingly beautiful sight. From where the boys were, all of Del Oro and the nearby shore could be seen, as well as a few neighboring areas. "Wow, I can't believe how awesome Del Oro looks, can you?" Berto looked over at Josh, but got no answer, Josh was lost in thought. (I know, it's hard to believe that Josh would be busy thinking, but work with me people!!) "Whatcha thinking hermano?" Josh snapped out of his little trance, and looked at Berto. "Oh, just thinking about Laura. I really screwed things up between the two of us, ya know? I wish it had just never happened. But what can I do, I already ruined everything."   
  
Josh hesitated for a moment before a smile crossed his face. "Hey, maybe Crystal could talk to Laura for me, you know, find out if she is still interested and willing to work things out. I mean, she has been gone for a year, I'm sure a bit of the hostility is gone, maybe she's willing to give it another shot, you think?" That very same thought had crossed Berto's mind, but he didn't like the idea of putting their newest agent in the midst of Josh's love life crisis. "I don't' know, she might not want to get involved. You can ask her I guess, but since she met Laura first, she might not be willing to tell you anything that Laura says. You know, that whole female bonding thing."   
  
Josh knew that he could be right, and nodded in agreement. "Well, I have to try something, don't I? I can't just let her slip away, especially now that she's coming back to Del Oro. I mean, if I don't do something and she starts dating, I'll have to sit here and watch her with other guys. I know myself too well, I can't handle that." Berto knew that Josh was telling the absolute truth about that; he cared too much for her to sit by and watch her move on, at least without a fight.   
  
"Well, let's get going, now for the fun part of the trail, downhill!" Berto liked the idea of not having to work too hard to for a few. "Oh, why not! Let's roll, hermano!" Off the boys went down the trail.   
They went out for dinner after completing the trail, and didn't make it back to N'Tek until after ten that night. Berto checked on his computer setup before going to bed. He could be so paranoid about his technological equipment being safe, but who could blame him. Everyone knows how much time it took Berto to create some of the things that were housed at N'Tek.   
  
Josh went home at almost 11:00 that night, still thinking about Laura. He wondered how to approach Crystal about helping him, and if that was even a good idea. He fell asleep that night remembering some of his bigger relationship mistakes, and how to repair them, or at least how not to make them all over again. 


	8. Arrival Time

Nearly two weeks passed before Josh got the nerve to talk to Crystal about how to get Laura back, when he did, she was less than helpful. "I'll see what I can do Josh, but I'm not going to tell you anything if she asks me not to. I can't betray her like that, you understand, right?" He nodded, and told her what he needed. "I just need to find out if there is any hope of getting another chance with her. That's all I'm asking for, just find out if I have any shot at reconciliation." She agreed, and walked off to start working for the day.   
  
She had been working on hacking into Dreads computer system; she was curious to see what Dread knew about Max and the rest of Team Steel. So far, only a small portion of his files had become available, and nothing about Team Steel.   
  
The search continued right through the next month, but everyone took the 24th off to pick up Laura Chen from the docks. Josh waited at the docks with Crystal, Berto, and Kat in tow. "Hey, over here!" Laura shouted as she spotted the group. Josh ran over to her and lifted her off of the ground. "Hey Laura. How was the last month without me?" Laura looked over Josh's left shoulder and saw Crystal standing no more than ten feet away. "Not bad, peaceful!" Everyone laughed knowing that Crystal could be a loud girl at times.   
  
"Where are your bags Laura, I'll get them for you." Josh put her down as he asked her about her stuff. "Um, I think they're being unloaded over there." She pointed toward the secondary exit from the large research ship. Josh walked away to get them, while Crystal introduced Laura to Kat, knowing that Kat hadn't joined the team until after Laura left.   
  
Josh returned a minute later with all of Laura's suitcases, three to be exact, and that wasn't counting the purse and duffle bag that she was already carrying. Everyone went over to Josh's house along Del Oro's beautiful coast.   
  
By this time, Josh and Berto had helped Crystal find a house near Josh, and Laura would be staying there, but Crystal wanted Laura and Josh to spend some time together before the two girls left. Crystal, Laura and Kat decided to make dinner for everyone that night, and went off to the kitchen to see what was available to cook. "Nothing" the girls said at once. There was nothing in Josh's house to cook that wasn't instant. "Fine, let's take Josh's car and go to the store." Kat knew how to handle Shadow, so she knew that Josh would let them borrow the car. They decided on Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo and fresh breadsticks. They picked up the necessary items and hurried back. The girls whipped up an incredible dinner for everyone, and even had Josh call Pete so that he could be there too.   
  
"Josh, can I see you in the kitchen for a minute?" Crystal asked after everyone was finished eating. "Uh, yeah." He followed her into his kitchen and gave her a puzzled look. "Sup?" "Josh, you need to tell that poor girl the truth, tonight. I don't want to hear any argument out of you either, she deserves to know. I talked to her like you asked me too, and while I can't tell you about most of our convo, I can tell you that as long as you are lying to her, you don't have a snowballs chance in hell of reconciliation."   
  
Josh began to remind her that it was against N'Tek policy to inform her of his double life as Max Steel, but she cut him off. "Damnit Josh, you can't keep something like this from her and expect her to trust you, that just doesn't make sense." Josh thought for a moment, and, realizing that she was right, he told her what he would do. "I don't think I can tell her tonight, she just got home and everything, I don't want to upset her so soon. So, I'll tell her in a few days, that will give me some time to think." She agreed, but gave him a warning before leaving the kitchen.   
  
"Ok, but I want you to tell her within the next two weeks, or I will tell her myself. Josh, some of the things that she told me while we were gone nearly brought me to tears, and usually did make her cry, but one thing that sticks out the most in my mind is her telling me that Max Steel is her dream guy. Do you know why he is her dream boyfriend Josh?" "No," He said softly, upset by this news. "Because she said that if he ever had to leave a date early or cancel on her that she would know that it was for something important, and that it wasn't for another girl. I don't think that kiss was actually what made her the most upset, I think that it was just the last straw, so to speak. That is why I want you to tell her, then maybe she'll forgive you for most of your mistakes and take your sorry ass back, k?"   
  
Josh nodded and walked back into his living room where everyone had gathered around the TV. Josh took a seat next to Laura (of course) and Crystal took the only seat available, next to Pete. They all watched until nearly 11:30 when the crowd began to disperse. Since Josh had driven Laura and Crystal, the two girls decided to walk to Crystal's new house, besides, it was only a few blocks away.   
  
Pete had driven himself and offered Kat and Berto a ride back to N'Tek, they accepted, and Berto made Kat sit up front with Pete. "Thanks for the ride Pete." Kat said as she waited for Berto to get out of the car. "Hey, no problem. Uh, hey Kat, um, w-what are you doing tomorrow night?" Kat turned toward Pete and thought for a moment. "Nothing planned, why?" "Well, uh, I was thinking, maybe you and I could go somewhere. Dinner maybe?" Kat accepted and walked into the massive N'Tek building. 'Ok, what is going on here? Why do I feel excited about dinner with Pete? No, there's no way that I could like him. No way. But on the other hand, I don't have to hide my job from him, he already knows. No, this is crazy, he's Pete Costas. I'm just sleep deprived, yeah, that's it, not enough sleep.' Kat convinced herself that she just needed a good night's sleep and went straight to her room.   
  
Everyone fell asleep around the same time, midnight, that night. Luckily, most of them were used to late nights and early mornings, and the only one who wasn't used to those hours was Laura. Laura was the lucky one; she didn't have to go to work the next morning. 


	9. Dinner Anyone!

Crystal Harrington arose early the next morning. She wrote a short letter for Laura to explain her early work hours. She left her cellular phone number at the end of the page, along with a P.S.  
  
'Hey, don't you dare consider making dinner tonight. I'm planning on cooking a huge Italian cuisine and I'm inviting Josh, Berto, Kat and Pete. Bye Laura.'  
  
  
  
As Crystal arrived at N'Tek, she began to think about her conversation with Josh the night before. 'I get the impression that Josh isn't gonna tell Laura without a little push. But what can I do? I'm still the new girl. If I push him too hard, I could be fired, and I love this job. But I can't lie to Laura like this, she deserves to know.' She walked into one of the laboratories, and spotted Berto talking to Pete in the far corner. It was obvious that they didn't hear her enter the room. "Hey guys, starting without me I see!" Berto calmly turned toward the door while Pete jumped; Crystal had caught him off guard. "Oh, hey. I was just showing Pete some of out latest weaponry projects." Crystal walked toward the two in order to get a closer look at what they were up to.  
  
  
  
"Hey, what are you doing tonight?" Pete replied first. "Nothing planned." Berto did not answer at all. He thought that the question was only directed toward Pete. "Hey dumb-ass, I'm talking to you too. What are your plans for tonight?" Crystal smiled and shook her head in disbelief. "Oh, uh, nothing why?" "Well, I thought that since Laura is staying with me, I'd make a huge dinner tonight and invite everyone. So, are you guys going to be able to come over?" Pete agreed immediately while Berto hesitated. He looked at Crystal and saw a most horrible sight; puppy-dog eyes, and a soft pout cross her face. He knew that he was powerless against a pouty woman. "Alright, I'm in." He said with a smile. "But stop that. No more 'pity me' faces. Deal?" "Oh ok, you're no fun."  
  
  
  
Kat entered the room and asked what was going on. "Not a whole lot really, just hanging out." "Oh, so N'Tek is now more of a social club that a job, huh?" Everyone laughed before Crystal turned to Kat and extended a dinner invitation to her. She explained that she wanted Josh to be there too, but hadn't seen him yet. "Oh, he's in his dad's office. Don't worry, he should be here soon."   
  
Kat was right, he walked into the lab about ten minutes later in Max-mode. "Hey Max, working hard or just procrastinating as usual?" Everyone laughed at Crystal's comment, especially because Max was carrying a bag of cookies in his right hand, and a soda bottle in his utility belt, as if that's what the belt was there for. "I'm working, what about you? What are you doing?" "Waiting for your sorry ass to arrive, so bite me." Max didn't look too surprised by her harsh comment, he had worked with her for nearly two months now, and was getting used to her sharp tongue. "I will not bite you." "Fine, be that way. Ruin all of my fun. You're no fun, you know that? Hey, can you come over to my house tonight?" Max began to take that the wrong way, what with the biting discussion and all.  
  
"I'm planning a huge dinner and I want everyone to be there." Max thought for a moment and eventually asked if Laura would be there. "Duh, she's staying with me dork, of course she'll be there. Don't be a total lame-ass. You aren't exactly the brightest crayon in the box are you?" "Oh shut up. Alright, I'm in". Crystal laughed at Max for his eagerness to spend time with Laura, but thought it was cute at the same time. "Great, so I'll see everyone at 6 o'clock." Everyone nodded; Kat and Max left the room to start working. Pete remembered that he had a class to attend, and left shortly thereafter. Crystal began to work with Berto on some of the weapons, condensing, some and trying to increase the power on others.  
  
Crystal went into Jefferson Smith's office later that day to ask about leaving N'Tek a bit early to begin cooking for her big evening. "Can I speak to you for a moment Mr. Smith?" She asked as she entered his office. "Please, come in Crystal. How many times do I have to tell you, call me Jeff. Have a seat. What's on your mind?" "Sorry, Jeff. Uh, I was hoping that I could leave a bit early today. I wouldn't ask, but I'm having dinner guests tonight, and I was hoping to leave early so that I could get a fair amount of the cooking done before my guests arrive." Jeff smiled and told her that it was no problem, but not to make it a habit. She agreed and thanked him. She left the office at 5 that night, and went straight home to cook for that night.  
  
Hey readers, just wanted to let everyone know that I am moving, so I won't be updating again for a while. Sorry, I'll update again as soon as possible! 


	10. The Chaos Begins

Crystal left N'Tek at 5 o'clock to begin cooking dinner. She knew that Laura would insist upon helping, and was grateful for that since she has an hour before her friends arrived, and wanted dinner to be ready within a half of an hour of that.   
  
She arrived home just a few minutes later, and got right to work on the meal. "So, what did you do while I was gone? Anything fun?" Crystal asked while grating the cheese for her Lasagna. "Oh, watched a little TV, read a few of the books from my room. Not a whole lot. I thought you got off of work at 6, how did you get away early?" "I work with the boss' son Laura, how do you think I got away early? I'm kidding; I just asked Jeff if I could leave an hour early. I told him that I had to cook because I had guests coming for dinner, and he told me that it was no problem. No reason to lie to him, right?" Laura nodded as Crystal continued.   
  
"I told everyone to be here at 6, Josh agreed immediately when he found out that you would be here. It was so cute." Laura began to blush, she opened the refrigerator to hide her face, but she was too late. "I saw that Laura, you're blushing. Aw, how cute!" "What?" Laura tried hard to hide a smile from her friend, knowing that she would never be allowed to live that down. "You two still have a thing for each other, after more than a year. That's so adorable." Crystal smirked as she walked around her kitchen. She told Laura that she would try to help get them back together, but not be too obvious about it.   
  
A few minutes before 6 o'clock, the first person arrived, but a problem followed. Crystal saw Shadow in her driveway and knew that Josh was here early to see Laura, but was shocked by what she saw when she opened her door. "Max!" she said, surprised by his mistake. "What are you doing here?" Confusion fell upon his face at her question. "Huh, you invited me, remember?" "No, I invited your friend, JOSH. Not Max Steel, to dinner." She whispered toward him so that Laura would not come to the door.   
"What?" he asked as he looked at his clothes. "Oh shit, I forgot, uh what now?" He was near a blind panic at this point, knowing that he could have just ruined everything. Hey, I want to show you something really quick. Come here." Crystal gestured for him to come inside of her house. She walked him down the main hall and shoved him into the downstairs bathroom. Immediately, he hit the button on his communicator and emerged as Josh McGrath.  
"Ok, much better, so where are you hiding Laura." Crystal shrugged and pointed toward the dining room where Laura was setting the dinner table.   
Josh turned back toward the bathroom, checked his hair for a second, and went toward the dining room to see Laura. Josh crept into the room where Laura had her back toward the hall. He tried to move quietly so that she wouldn't notice him behind her as she sat silverware next to each plate. "Boo!" Josh shouted as he tickled her waist. "Ah," she shrieked.   
  
Unfortunately, shrieking wasn't all that the startled girl did. Laura threw her right arm back, hitting Josh in the stomach with her elbow. Josh clutched his waist and moved back a few steps. "Oh my god, Josh, are you ok?" "I-I'm fine. Wow, you've gotten pretty strong since you left. I'm impressed." She smiled as she walked with him around the couch to help him sit down. "Sorry sweetie, you scared me." Josh smiled bright at her minor slip of reverting back to calling him sweetie like she had done before. She paled slightly at the realization, but decided that correcting herself might draw attention to something that she wasn't even sure that he had noticed. Instead she offered him a drink. "Sure" he said as he watched her walk out of the room. She walked back in with a glass for him and asked if he wanted to see what was on TV since he was a bit early.   
  
She picked up the remote and found the end of a movie that they had watched together many times, although they only managed to watch the entire movie once. "Hey, I think I've seen this one before!" Laura told Josh as she put down the remote. "You know, I only remember seeing the first 2-3 minutes of it except for in the theater." They both laughed, remembering that Josh had always invited Laura over to watch movies, and they would never get to see the entire thing, so they always picked movies that they had already seen.   
  
Crystal decided to stay in the kitchen and give them some privacy. Laura felt bad about leaving her alone, and offered her assistance. "Crystal, do you need any help?" Laura shouted. "No, I'm cool." "Ok, let me know if you do." "Alright." Crystal was almost done cooking, she was very happy that dinner would be done within a few minutes of everyone's arrival.  
  
Everyone else arrived together at a few minutes past 6. Crystal opened the door and said hi to everyone and walked with them into the living room where Josh and Laura were trying to find something to watch since their movie had just ended. Crystal walked into the kitchen and pulled the last part of their meal out of the oven. She sat everything on the table, and yelled "Dinner's ready." Everyone walked out of the living room and sat at the table. Pete sat between Josh and Kat, and with Josh sitting next to Laura, that left Crystal to sit between Laura and Berto. The group ate until they were stuffed, and Josh ate a bit more after that. "God, what a pig. Aren't you ready to explode yet?" Crystal asked in amazement. "Yeah, but this is good, and I don't get home cooked meals too often."  
  
Crystal began to realize that now was probably the best time for her to try to convince Josh to tell Laura about his secondary life as Max Steel. "Uh, Josh. Could you help me carry some of these dishes into the kitchen please?" "Ok." Josh picked up a few of the plates and followed her into the kitchen. They put down the dishes in the sink and headed back for the table. "Uh Josh, wait a minute. I need to talk to you." Josh looked worried that he might be in trouble. "Sup?" "Listen, I know that I told you that I would back off for two weeks about telling Laura, but I really think that tonight would be a really good time. I mean, you have all of us here for support."   
  
"I-I don't know, I still don't know what to say." Crystal understood that he was afraid of scaring her, but still felt that telling her was necessary. "Come on Josh, we'll all be right there behind you to help." Josh nodded and said that he'd try to tell her. The two walked into the dining room to see that everyone had left. They had all went into the living room and put in a movie. Josh turned off the TV and tried to find the words to start the conversation. 


	11. Fighting Time

Josh sat down on the sofa across from the chair that Laura was in. "Um, Laura. I need to talk to you. I kind of have a confession to make." Josh stuttered and paused many times during this beginning. Everyone knew what was coming except for poor Laura. "What's wrong Josh, you look pale?" "Uh, well…I uh, what I mean to say is…" " Are you okay?" Josh nodded, but still couldn't speak.   
  
"What Josh is trying to say is that, well, you know how you told me that you always felt that Josh was hiding something? Well, he is, but not because he wants to, it's because he had to. But it's safe for you to know the truth now." Laura was completely puzzled at this point. "Josh, what's going on, is everything ok?"   
  
"Well, uh, Crystal is right. I was hiding something from you, but I never wanted to lie. I need to tell you something, but I'm afraid that it'll scare you." "Scare me? Josh, what is going on?" Laura was nearly yelling at this point, worried that something was wrong.   
  
"Laura, you know that I work for my dad, and that I work with Kat, Crystal, Berto, and Rachel. But what you don't know is what we all do." "Of course I know what you guys do Josh; I've seen some of the gear that N'Tek makes. You are the one that showed me that stuff, remember?" Josh felt bad for having to tell her that everything that she knew about him was a sham. "No Laura, I showed you gear from N'Tek's cover operation. N'Tek does a lot more than just sports gear. We are secret agents." Laura gave everyone a weird look. "Oh yeah, and I'm Pamela Anderson. Come on Josh, I don't need to be lied to again."   
  
"Uh, he's telling the truth Laura. I'm an agent too." Kat said, trying to prove that, for once, she wasn't' being lied to. "Ok, if that was true, Pete would be surprised too, unless he knew before…" She closed her eyes for a moment and then looked at Pete. He looked as if he felt bad for something that he had no control over. "Ok, either you're lying, or I'm going to kill you. You have to be joking with me, right?"  
  
"Laura, that's not all of it." Crystal said, in hopes of bracing her for the worst. Laura looked around the room thinking that there was no way that any news could be worse than hearing that her ex-boyfriend was a secret agent, and that he had been putting his life in danger everyday without telling her.   
  
"Uh, Laura." Josh said as he reached out his hand and held her hand tight. "Do you remember when Berto first came out here? Well, he came here because there was a technical accident at N'Tek. You see Laura, one day when I went to visit my Dad at N'Tek, I found someone in the building that was considered an enemy. When I tried to stop him, he attacked me, and I got hurt pretty bad. It's hard to explain, but I ended up with these things called nano-probes infused with my vital organs. They gave me certain powers that I didn't have before."   
  
"WHAT???" Laura paled at this news. "Power's, like what?" "Well, you know that guy, Max Steel?" She nodded as everyone else in the room tensed. "Yeah, what does he have to do with anything?" "Well, you see, I don't work at N'Tek exactly. He does. But it's not that simple. Laura, I am Max Steel. That's one thing that the accident did to me. I have the ability to change myself into Max. I know it sounds crazy, but it's true." Josh showed her the extra buttons on his watch face, and watched her as she nearly collapsed. "Ok, that's some kind of a prop isn't it? Berto, you made that didn't you?" Josh spoke before Berto could respond. "Laura, it's not a joke. This isn't a prop. I can prove it, but I don't want to freak you out any more." Laura couldn't help but laugh a bit. "Freak me out more. I don't think that's humanly possible. Josh, you just told me that you are two people, and you're worried about freaking me out. Come on blondie, prove it."   
  
Josh hesitated before pushing the button on his arm. He began to glow that bright green color that everyone else had become so used to. Laura screamed as loud as she could, and jumped over the back of her chair. She ran up the stairs and into the room where she had been staying. Josh tried to run after her, but stopped, realizing that he might make things worse.   
  
"Oh yeah, tell her Josh, she needs to know." He said in a mocking tone toward the rest of the group. "Great fucking idea. Why don't you guys just kill me and get it over with?" Josh sat down again and asked what he should do now. "I'll go talk to her. I think she just need to realize that it's not all bad. She'll be happier when if finally hits her that you weren't lying just to be secretive. Gimme a few minutes, ok?" Josh nodded and everyone except for Josh followed Crystal upstairs. "Laura, come on, let me in." Crystal heard no response. "Come on, I don't have Josh with me, I promise." Again no response followed.   
  
Crystal walked into her room and grabbed the key to the spare room from her nightstand. She walked back to Laura's room and unlocked the door. "I could've sworn that I had locked that door." Laura said as she saw everyone enter the room. "You did, but it's my house. I have keys." Laura smiled a bit and turned away. Kat was the first to see her face, and could see tears running down both cheeks. "How could he lie to me like that? How could everyone know but me? How could I be so oblivious to what was going on around me? You know the worst part? It makes perfect sense. I mean, every time Max saved my life, I couldn't find Josh, but as soon as Max was gone, Josh would show up. I should have known. How could I be so stupid?"   
  
Crystal tried to calm her by sitting down on the bed next to her, and placing her hand on Laura's shoulder. "You weren't stupid, and the only reason that everyone but you knew is because everyone here except for Pete works for N'Tek. And the only reason that Pete knows is because he found out. I'm sorry that we all had to lie, but it was Josh's secret to tell and he didn't know how to say it."   
  
Laura spent nearly 20 minutes being consoled by her friends before Josh walked upstairs. Knock-Knock. Josh tapped on the open door. "Can I come in Laura?" Rather than answer, she turned away from him. "Come on in Josh, we'll leave you two alone." Crystal said as she left the room. Kat and Berto followed, but Kat stopped after getting only part way out. She noticed Pete still standing in the room, not moving at all. She walked back toward him and reached up toward his face. She grabbed his ear and dug her nails into the back. "Ow Ow Ow, come on Kat, that hurts." "Let's go Pete, leave them alone." Kat pulled him toward the door, but not without hearing him whine. "Damn, Kat is a good name for you. Come on, those claws hurt. Let go." Kat refused, and dragged him out of the room, and downstairs.   
  
"Laura" Josh said quietly as he knelt down in front of her. "I think we should talk about this. I know you are mad at me, but I never wanted to lie to you. I had to, for your own safety." She wiped away some of her tears and began to talk to him. "So why is it okay to tell me now?" "Well, technically it's not, N'Tek rules are still very set against this, but you need to know. Besides that, there was one thing that I hadn't thought about. Someone pointed out that some of my enemies already know who I am, so you could be in danger whether you know about me or not. It might actually be safer for you if you do know, so that you can be ready to defend yourself," Laura looked at his eyes and knew that he was telling the truth.   
  
"So, what now Josh? I mean, why would you tell me now, rather than when we were dating, and your honesty was more important?" Josh's heart sank realizing just how badly he had screwed up. "Well, I know that it's not likely, but I was hoping that maybe you would be willing to give me another shot. I mean, I know that I don't deserve it, but I still…" Josh cleared his throat and took both of her hands. "I still love you Laura. Now that I have no need to be secretive, I think things could really work out between us. I know that it's asking a lot, but what do you say? Just one date, Please."   
  
Laura jumped off of the bed, and stopped only inches from Josh's face. She screamed at the top of her lungs, and began to hit him. "How could you lie to me like this? I trusted you, all that time that we were together. I can't believe that you were – you didn't even feel guilty, did you?" Tears streamed down her face as she sat down, not on the bed that was only a few feet away from her, but on the floor directly below her feet. She felt as if her legs had turned to Jell-o from all of the yelling.   
  
After a second, Josh responded. "Of course I feel guilty, I always have. But I didn't have a choice. Dad wouldn't let me tell you, and besides, what was I supposed to say? 'Hey Laura, you know that Max Steel guy you think is so cute, guess what?' Yeah, that would have gone over real well. Look, I'm sorry, but there was no other choice. But I'm telling you now, I know it's late, but you know the old saying 'better late than never'. I'm not asking you to take me back immediately, just one date. I just want one last chance to prove myself to you. Especially know that I don't have any secrets anymore. Please Laura, one last shot. I love you Laura." Josh wiped the tears from Laura's face, and tried to put his arms around her waist. She slapped his hands, and then put her arms around his neck. "I really hate you sometimes, you know that right?" She said with a smile.  
  
"I love you too Josh. I guess one date couldn't hurt?" Josh felt as if a weight had been lifted from his chest. He picked her up and twirled her around the room. The two knew that reconciliation wouldn't be that simple, but decided that it was worth it.   
  
They walked back downstairs to find Crystal chasing Berto around her kitchen. Josh asked Pete what was going on and found out that Berto had brought a computer with him, and Crystal was trying to take it away to make him relax a bit. What no one knew what that she had a hidden agenda.   
  
"Gimme that Berto, you're not gonna do research while you are here." Eventually, Berto gave her the computer and she ran into the bathroom with it. When asked why, she yelled. "I want to see what he's hiding on here. I'm going to hack into this sucker." Berto threw a massive fit, kicking the door and screaming at her to give it back. "Crystal, that's personal, give it back." When she refused, he threatened to kick the door down. It took Berto roughly five minutes before he realized that he could probably pick the lock since most bathroom locks aren't that complex. He found a small screwdriver and broke the lock open. When he opened the door, he was very confused by what he saw.   
  
Crystal stood in front of the mirror, Berto's computer held in one hand, and a hairbrush in the other. "Huh? What are you doing?" She turned toward him with a smile. "Uh, brushing my hair. Why, what did you expect me to be doing?" "Well, you said that you were hacking my computer. I kinda thought that's what you'd be doing." Berto's eyes dropped down to his computer and he realized that she hadn't even turned it on.   
  
"Oh, you freakin' brat. I'll get you back for that." Again, Crystal smiled, and she handed him back the computer. Berto decided that it was a good idea to hide his computer, and so he took it out to the car.   
  
After everyone calmed down from laughing at them fight over his computer, everyone decided that it was getting late, and began to leave. Laura waited until Josh was the last one, and stood outside with him for a few minutes. She came back inside, not saying a word to Crystal and walked toward her room. "Wait a minute. What happened? Come on, I need to know Laura." "Well," Laura began. "He apologized for a while, and then we got back together. Do you think I'm crazy for taking him back?" Crystal shook her head and said, "No way, you love him. Now, if he was still lying to you, then maybe I'd think you're crazy, but I think he deserves another chance."   
  
Laura smiled, knowing that someone was on her side. "Well, I think I'm going to bed Crystal. See you tomorrow." Crystal waved to her and said goodnight. She had plans for Laura tomorrow, and wanted her to be rested, so she didn't ask her to explain any further. 


	12. A notsoaverage day for Laura

"Laura, wake up." Laura slowly opened her eyes as she heard Crystal's voice. "C'mon, I know it's early, but I know you want to go with me to see N'Tek." Laura bolted up after hearing this. "Ok, I'm going. Give me 20 minutes." Laura gathered up her things and headed for the guest bathroom across the hallway from her temporary bedroom.   
  
Crystal, realizing that she might be late, called Berto to ask a small favor. "Hey, could I get you to do a favor for me Berto?" "Uh, probably not. What is it?" "Do it anyway. Could you tell Rachel that I might be a few minutes late? I have to wait for Laura before I can bring her in." Berto hesitated for a moment. "Oh, you're bringing Laura with you?" He was kinda shocked that she would do that without talking to Josh, but oh well, what could he do? "Yeah, I thought I'd bring her in and show her around, and the tonight, we're going to look at houses for her. Besides, I'm sure Max won't mind seeing her again." "Max?" Berto couldn't figure out why she would say Max rather than Josh. "Uh, yeah, Josh always switches into Max mode when he's at work. Duh." "Oh yeah. Okay, I'll tell her and warn Max. Oh, wait. Rachel isn't here right now; she's out getting some coffee or something. I'm not totally sure, but she said she'd be back soon. So I don't think it's a big deal if you're late. I'll warn Max." "Bye Berto, thanks."   
  
They hung up just as Laura walked downstairs. "Ready when you are." Crystal grabbed her small black purse and keys. They both walked out the door and toward her new car. It took only a few minutes to arrive at the massive complex that many N'Tek agents called home. Berto had called ahead and asked Jefferson Smith to give clearance to Laura, so that the guards would allow her in. The two girls entered without problem, and walked into the computer room that Berto typically inhabited.   
  
After a few minutes of showing Laura around the controls, Berto hit a button and began to speak while Crystal explained to Laura that he was using the bio-link communicator. Max walked into the room less than a minute after being told that Laura had arrived. He wrapped his arms around her waist as soon as he entered the room. "Hi Laura. Glad you could make it. Uh, why don't I give you the grand tour?" She smiled and agreed. "Hey Max,"   
  
Crystal shouted after him. "Meet me back here at noon, k?" He nodded and walked away with his left arm around Laura's waist. "So, Rachel's still not back yet, huh? Weird, she's usually little miss punctual. Oh well, so what are you working on now?" Berto nodded as she spoke of Rachel, Crystal was right, she was usually on time. "Well, I thought I'd try to increase the range on some of our smaller weapons. You know, the ones that everyone carries in their utility belts. The only problem is trying to keep their current, convenient, size." Crystal offered to help, and they worked until 12 when Max and Laura entered the room again. "Hey you two. What are you up to? Did you miss us?" Laura said as she and Max walked back into the room. Crystal smiled, but didn't respond to Laura, she was making the final adjustment to one of their standard issue weapons.   
  
"Hey, so, where did you two end up?" "Well, Max showed me around the entire building, and gave me a better explanation of why he is the way he is." Max cut her off; he hated to do it, but was a bit confused. "Sorry Laura, but Berto, have you seen Rachel anywhere? I haven't seen her yet this morning and we've usually done our morning briefing by now."   
  
Crystal stopped working and turned toward Max. "We haven't seen her yet, she called Berto to say that she was leaving to get coffee, but that was before Laura and I left my house this morning. That's weird, she's usually so picky about everyone being on time." The news hit everyone but Laura as being very strange. The gang tried not to dwell on the subject; after all, Rachel Leeds was an N'Tek agent. Besides, they had all told her that she needed to loosen up, they couldn't freak out when she finally did relax a bit.   
  
"So guys, I was thinking that maybe we could find Kat, call Pete, and all go out to lunch. What do you all think?" Laura asked. Everyone nodded in agreement, and Berto picked up the phone to call Pete. Max took Laura by the hand and walked out of the room, presumably to find Kat. Pete's mother answered the phone when Berto finally got through. "Hello Mrs. Costas. Could I please speak to Pete?" She yelled through the house and Pete walked into the room.   
  
He took the phone and made the mistake of assuming that the caller was Josh. "Hey Josh, sup?" "Uh, you got the wrong guy Pete. Don't assume, you always make such an ass of yourself." "Oops, hey Berto, what's up?" Berto explained that Laura was at N'Tek for the day and wanted him to go to lunch with them. Pete agreed, and said he'd be at the main gate in ten minutes. Berto got off of the phone and told Crystal the news. Moments later Laura re-entered the room with Max and Kat in tow. "So, is Pete coming?" She asked as she took her jacket back from Max. "Yeah, he'll be here in ten minutes."   
  
When Pete arrived, everyone was at the gate waiting. They knew that all six of them couldn't safely cram into Shadow, so Crystal volunteered Kat to go with Pete. She ended up getting a dirty look from both, which confused her a bit. She had no clue that Kat had been confronted with some confusing feelings about Pete, she just felt that the two would make a cute couple, and had always been a bit of a matchmaker. She and Berto sat in the back of the car.   
  
"Baby, can I try driving? I'll be careful." "I'm sure you would be, but it's not totally my car, so I can't let you unless we're back at N'Tek. I'm sorry Laura. I trust you and your driving skills, believe me. How about later today, I let you drive? You know, when we're back there, and I can't be killed for doing it." She agreed, and let him drive. The large group decided that they were all in the mood for Tacos. Especially Laura, who had been stuck on that ship for so long, she had nearly forgotten what tacos tasted like.   
They spent the next hour eating and talking. Mostly, the conversation consisted of Laura asking questions about N'Tek, and everyone else trying to find the best way to explain the complicated answers. "I wonder if Rachel ever made it back to the office?" Crystal said, looking at Josh. "Who knows, maybe she called dad and asked for the day off. If she did, I doubt she'd call to let any of us know." Berto had a hard time believing that. "No way hermano, your dad would have let us know, you know he tries to keep us all posted on stuff like that." Josh began to agree with him, until Crystal cut in. "You mean like he kept you posted on me coming in to help you out. He doesn't tell you everything." "True." Berto knew that he was stuck.   
The group left the restaurant at a little after 1, and went back to N'Tek. When they arrived, Kat asked Pete if he wanted to stay for a while, and he agreed.   
Josh switched back into Max mode shortly after entering the main gate. "Max, you said you'd teach me how to drive this car, let's go." "Man Laura, you really don't waste time do you? Oh ok, I need to go inside for a few minutes though. Go ahead and stay here, I'll be back in five minutes. I just want to talk to dad real quick." Max walked with Berto into the building, while Crystal stayed to keep Laura company. Pete walked into N'Tek with Kat a minute later, and asked to see some of the training programs; Max had only shown him a few. She took him in, and put him into one of their basic training scenarios.   
  
He held his own, but Kat felt that he wasn't ready for the more difficult scenes, at least not until she taught him a few of her moves.  
Max came back to Laura a few minutes later, after talking to his dad about her request, and getting his approval on allowing her to test-drive Shadow.   
  
"Hey, he says letting you drive is cool, as long as I'm with you, so let's get movin'!" Crystal left and went to locate everyone, since they had all ditched her a few minutes before. She found Berto just where she expected to find him. He was in the main control room, tapping away at the main computer. "Anything interesting yet?" "AH! Oh, don't do that. I hate when you sneak into the room like that."   
Berto looked upset, but started to laugh about halfway through his comment. "Nothing really." Max and everyone else returned to the room later that day, and all of them talked until Rachel finally arrived back at the office. Little did they know the day that the agent had endured. 


	13. The Worst Morning Ever

As for agent Rachel Leeds, the day did not go quite so well. She had, in fact, told Berto the truth. Her only intention was to go to a local coffee house that she had grown rather fond of. Rachel got to the little shop, located about 4 miles north of N'Tek, and ordered an espresso. She sat down and sipped at her drink. After sitting in the coffee shop for nearly 30 minutes, she began to walk toward her car, which was parked across the street.   
  
As she tried to unlock the driver's side door, a black van pulled up behind the vehicle. She knew that it was not a good thing to have that happen when she was by herself, but tried not to show fear. Two men got out of the back of the can and grabbed her from either side. She struggled, but was quickly subdued by a shot in her right arm. Following the men, a young woman exited the passengers' side of the van and took Rachel's keys out of her hand. She took Rachel's car, and followed the van back to Dread's base camp.  
Upon arrival, Rachel was greeted by none other than John Dread. The two men that had abducted her walked away quickly, while the woman, who arrived only seconds after, decided to stay. She stood next to Dread and watched Rachel stagger, trying to stand while recovering from the medication that had been injected into her body only minutes before. "Ah, so nice of you to join us Mrs. Leeds. Please, come in. I have a nice brunch waiting for us, I think we have a few things to discuss." "No, I don't think we have anything do talk about. I won't tell you anything. You should know me better by now, or is old age catching up with you?"   
  
Oh great, that new girl is beginning to rub off on me. Rachel thought, hoping that Dread would think that the medication was still talking. He held her arm tight and walked with her into the massive building, hidden deep in the large compound. She was led down countless flights of stairs, until finally, they entered a fairly large room with a table against the far wall, and many chairs in the middle. She was pushed into one of the chairs, and Dread took the seat across from her.   
  
After a few moments of chilling silence, Dread stood up and moved toward the table. He began to make up a plate with food that was scattered across the table. He offered to make a plate for Rachel, but she said no, trying to resist his almost charming suave attitude. He began to ask her very basic questions, knowing that he would get little or no answer.   
  
The woman that had taken her car entered the room during the conversation, and watched quietly for a few moments. She left the room after listening to Rachel insult Dread. The woman re-entered the room nearly 20 minutes. She had made many changes to her appearance, and looked identical to Rachel Leeds.   
  
She turned toward John Dread and began to speak with an accent just like Rachel's. He told the woman that she was nearly ready, and she left again. She stood outside of the large room and listened to Rachel a bit more, just to be safe, she learned her attitude and some of her quirks, hoping that she could fulfill her duties.   
  
"Rachel, you are going to be here for quite some time, so you may want to make yourself comfortable. Once my plan is set into action, I won't be able to release you. I am terribly sorry to tell you, but this is your new home. I am also sorry to take you away from your boyfriend, Max Steel." She knew that he was trying to get under her skin, that he was hoping to break her by making her upset.   
  
"I will not make myself comfortable, I will not call this my home, and Max Steel is not my boyfriend, but thank you for the concern." Dread scowled, thinking that his plan to break her would have surely worked. The two spoke many harsh words during the next few hours. After realizing that she would not break her silence so soon, Dread had Rachel sent to a tightly sealed room.   
  
She sat quietly, not knowing whether or not the room was being watched or tapped. Rachel felt like crying because she was, to say the least, out of her element. She spoke softly, as if someone was in the room, and could here her.   
  
"Max, I wish you could hear me, I really want to get out of here. I have no idea what John Dread wants with me, or why he is trying to clone me with that other woman, but I get the feeling that N'Tek is in serious danger. I just wish that I had some way to tell you where I am, but I can't think of any way to get a message to you." She continued to talk to herself for hours, it seemed to make the time pass for her, and calmed her nerves a bit too.  
  
Rachel had no idea at the time, but she was still being watched, and studied heavily. John Dread watched her every move, trying to guess how she might act when at work. He noticed that, even though she knew that she might not be alone, she was not looking around the room much. He took that to mean that she was not a curious or intrusive person. He also noticed that she mentioned Max many times while talking to herself. He felt that she was involved with him and just not letting on, trying to keep him out of danger.   
  
It was not until after 10 o'clock that night that Dread felt that his female associate was ready to take on her mission. He sent her out not long after. She left in Rachel's car, and drove toward N'Tek. "I've always wanted to be an actress, now for my best and most challenging performance yet!" She laughed as she turned toward the main gate that blocked N'Tek from the rest of the world. The woman entered the complex and went straight into Jefferson Smith's office. "Mr. Smith." She began with a familiar accent.   
  
"I am terribly sorry for my unexplained absence today. While I was out, I received a telephone call. I had a family emergency, and I got so caught up in worry that I completely forgot to call anyone here. I just wanted you to know that I am sorry that I wasn't here, and that I am back now. So, did I miss anything?" Jeff was very surprised by her attitude, it was very unusual.   
  
"Not really Rachel, you missed Max giving Laura a tour, and her learning how to drive Shadow, nothing past that. Are you all right? You seem…I don't know…different somehow." Boy was he ever right; she looked like Rachel, and had the accent down to a science, but didn't realize that her anti-social attitude wasn't just a show for Dread. "Oh, I guess I'm just a bit shook up still. That and I feel terrible for leaving without notice. I'm sure I'll be better tomorrow. Well, if there is nothing else that you care to discuss at the moment, I think I'd better go check on everyone." Jeff let her leave, and she tried to remember the floor plan that Dread had forced her to memorize.   
  
She found the control room, and found Berto working with Crystal. Max, Pete and Laura were standing in the room, but not really doing anything. "Hi everyone, sorry that I wasn't here earlier, but I had some personal business to attend to. Ah, Max. I'm surprised that I didn't hear from you today." Max looked at her with a confused expression. "Uh, why? I like never call you. Why did you expect me to call you today?"   
  
The woman posing as Rachel Leeds began to realize that she wasn't involved with Max, and had already made her first mistake. "Oh I know that, I just figured that since I had been gone all day that you might have been curious." He nodded, but still thought that she was being much nicer than usual.   
  
She left the room a few minutes later, and found her room in the large building. The woman placed a call to a cellular phone being held by one of John Dread's men. She told him that she was in, but that she was beginning to suspect that Rachel and Max weren't an item. Luckily for her, that would not affect her duties. She went to sleep around 12:30 that night, hoping not to screw up the mission the next day. Her assignment was clear, find out all of Max Steel's weaknesses and take a large sample of the probes. After that, Dread would find a way to destroy seemingly Rachel so that none of her fellow N'Tek employee's would wonder why she was gone. 


	14. Author's Note

I know you must all hate me for quitting on this story so long ago. This was my first attempt at a fanfic, and I didn't realize how difficult it can be to finish a story! I wanted to thank everyone who read what I did manage to complete, and especially to everyone who reviewed. I did manage to learn that I shouldn't post a long story until it's complete. Ok, I was going to remove this story, but I have been asked not to, so I guess I'll leave it posted. Thanks for all of the attention, and I really am sorry that I couldn't finish the story! Bye.


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